The program included a visit to places related to the life and work of St Francis de Sales, in honour of whom St John Bosco gave the name to the Salesian Society, and that he proposed to his sons as a model of kindness and pastoral zeal.

Visits were then made to Chateau Thorens, where the Savoyard saint spent his childhood; to the Chablais where he successfully carried out his mission of conversion of Calvinists; to Geneva - seat of the bishops of the diocese until the Reformation, and Annecy - where Saint Francis spent his period of service as bishop and where his relics and those of Saint Jane Frances Frémiot de Chantal are buried.

The participants also prayed in Ars - the place where Saint John Mary Vianney worked; in Paray-le-Monial, where Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque received the revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; in Cluny, where the Benedictines built the largest church in the world in the Middle Ages; in Lyon, the place where Saint Irenaeus worked; and in Chambery, the capital of Savoy, where the Shroud, which is now in Turin, was preserved for a long time.

The preacher of the retreat was Fr Henryk Drawnel, SDB, professor, biblical scholar specializing in the manuscripts of Qumran, who, a few months earlier, had visited and got to know all the sites. His preaching of the retreat had many aspects. Above all, it concerned the spiritual legacy of Saint Francis de Sales, based on his two most important works, "Introduction to the Devout Life" and "Treatise on the Love of God". In addition, participants were able to learn a lot about the history of France and the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, such as Evagrius of Pontus. An important aid for the retreat was the "Guide" prepared by Fr Kostka, Vic-Provincial PLS, which contained, for each day of the retreat, descriptions of the places visited and the most beautiful passages of the works of St Francis de Sales.

It was probably the first time that an organised group of Polish Salesians made a retreat in the footsteps of St Francis de Sales. "We hope that this will be a good example that will pave the way for future groups", commented Salesian Fr Michał Wocial.

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